University courses "dumbing down" standards

A leading member of the Welsh executive has accused the government of "dumbing down" university degrees.

The chairman of the Professional Association of Teachers (PAT), Peter Morris, claimed in order to boost the number of graduates the government has distorted the value of further education.

He told the PAT annual conference: "I am angry because this government has interfered with my children and their children's chances of getting a good education in this country.

"They have changed the ways that examinations are assessed, and clearly this has had a 'dumbing down' effect on the academic standards in the UK in order to get more pupils to achieve."

Slamming the government target of having half of those under 30 in further education by 2010 he continued: "This target, in my view, is one of the reasons why these non-academic courses are receiving financial backing from the government, which is resulting in academic courses being axed in favour of the new trendy subjects."

Meanwhile, the government has decided to cut funding for students embarking on a second degree course.